McLean Incorrectly Named in Arrests in Internet Piracy Case

Washington Post Business sent out an e-mail alert this afternoon incorrectly reporting: "Workers in McLean indicted at one of world’s largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com."

The link goes to a story that says in the third paragraph, "The Justice Department said in a statement said that Kim Dotcom, formerly known as Kim Schmitz, and three other executives were arrested Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Two other defendants are at large."

The story published by the Post is actually an Associated Press story with a McLean dateline. The Associated Press has an office in the USA TODAY/Gannett building on Jones Branch Drive in the  McLean portion of Tysons Corner. That is the only association that the story has with McLean --- the dateline.*

The story further says that Megaupload is a Hong Kong-based company.

The only connection to Northern Virginia: "The indictment was returned in the Eastern District of Virginia, which claimed jurisdiction in part because some of the alleged pirated materials were hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Va."

Here's a link to the New York Times story on the Megaload indictment. There is no mention of McLean.

* AP datelines all the stories from its McLean office as "McLean" although they have nothing to do with our McLean.

Full Disclosure: McLean Patch is a Washington Post stockholder and former Washington Post editor.